


happy birthday

by suddenlyatiger



Series: hell, I'm just a kid myself [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Jackson-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26239327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlyatiger/pseuds/suddenlyatiger
Summary: Jackson knows as soon as he first sets his eyes on the baby that it definitely belongs to Stilinski.
Relationships: Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore
Series: hell, I'm just a kid myself [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799071
Comments: 28
Kudos: 225





	happy birthday

**Author's Note:**

> usual caveat about how i don't know how things work

Jackson is the one who drives Lydia to the hospital when she goes into labour.

It hadn't even been a question at the time. She'd called him to let him know that the baby was coming and his first reaction had been to jump into his Porsche and race over.

Getting Lydia admitted was a bit of a whirlwind, and Jackson doesn't fully remember how he made it from the ER entrance to the delivery room. But here he is, standing next to Lydia's bed as she squeezes his hand in hers while she gives birth.

Lydia is beautiful like this, even when she's sweaty, red-faced, and screaming. Her grip around Jackson's fingers is strong as she pushes and pants at the doctor's direction. Jackson's head is spinning and he keeps wondering if he should actually be doing something. Anything. He stands there, murmuring reassurances to Lydia (even though she keeps telling him to shut up) and staring wide-eyed at the top of the doctor's head, the only part of him that he can see over the blanket stretched across Lydia's spread knees.

The baby's first cry, when it finally comes, hits Jackson like a punch to the chest. Emotion crawls up his throat and almost chokes him. He feels tears prick his eyes and he looks down at Lydia to see her heaving for breath, eyes closed and face pointed up to the ceiling.

"Looks like you did it," he says, clearing his throat.

"Of course I did," Lydia says, sounding irritated. She lets go of Jackson's hand.

"Here he is!" The doctor declares, holding the squalling baby up over the blanket.

Jackson knows as soon as he first sets his eyes on the baby that it definitely belongs to Stilinski.

The red hair, vibrant even while covered in amniotic fluid and other gunk he doesn't want to think too closely about, definitely came from Lydia, but other than that the kid is all Stilinski. Even for a newborn, the face really resembles Stiles Stilinski; the kid even has moles.

He doesn't get more than a quick look, though, before the baby is being whisked away by a nurse. Right out of the room. Lydia had made very sure that she wouldn't have to actually see the baby after it came out. Some of the nursing staff had seemed uncomfortable with that, but at least they're respecting her wishes.

Jackson's not sure what he's feeling as he watches the nurse leave with the baby. An ache starts up in his chest. He knows, intellectually, that the baby isn't his and that he has no ties to it. But with Lydia seeming completely uninterested and no one on the other side of the door to even care, Jackson finds himself compelled to follow the nurse.

"Are you alright here?" He asks Lydia.

"You don't need to be here for this," Lydia says, then grimaces. The doctor is still at his post between Lydia's spread legs and Jackson Isn't sure what's happening right now. The doctor suddenly glances up at Jackson and his eyes crinkle at the corners in a way that suggests he's smiling behind his mask.

"We're all good here if you want to go see your baby," he says.

"It's not _his_ baby!" Lydia snaps. Jackson can't help flinching, and he looks away from both Lydia and the doctor and starts moving awkwardly out of the room.

"Doctor Hansen," one of the nurses admonishes. Then Jackson is out of the room.

***

The nursery is a bit overwhelming, and Jackson feels grossly out of his comfort zone as he stares through the large picture window at all the newborns. He doesn't press his hands and face to the glass to look around,  because that would be ridiculous,  but that's almost what he feels like doing.

He doesn't see Stilinski's baby anywhere (can't really bring himself to think of him as Lydia's), and isn't sure what that means.

There are people on either side of him, pointing through the window and smiling at each other like this is a movie or something. It's almost surreal.

Finally, a door opens at the back of the room and a nurse walks in with a wrapped bundle in her arms. Jackson follows her with his eyes as she weaves her way through the rows of bassinets until she reaches an empty one in the second row from the window. The nurse places the bundle, which is of course a baby, into the empty bassinet and gives it a soft pat on the chest before walking away.

And there he is. Baby Stilinski, though there's no tag or anything on the bassinet.

Jackson taps absently on the window sill as he observes the baby. He's asleep, and looks just as much like Stilinski as he had back in the delivery room , only cleaner . There's no way Jackson could even delude himself into thinking that maybe the paternity test was wrong. Not with this visual evidence.

Not that Jackson is wishing that the paternity test had been wrong. Not really. He isn't ready to raise a baby right now. He's still not entirely sure how Stilinski plans on doing it, but that's not his problem. Sadly.

Maybe.

Jackson still remembers the sense of wonder when Lydia had told him she was pregnant. Before the fear and doubt had set in, and before his father had objected and started demanding proof, Jackson had been almost excited. This baby would be the first person he knew who would be related to him by blood. A little piece of him.

He doesn't like to think about it, but he's pretty sure he fell in love with the baby then, even as conflicted about the whole situation as he was.

He'd been devastated when the test results had come back and shown that he wasn't the father. He'd honestly expected his own father to be pleased with the results, since he'd pushed for the testing in the first place and had spent the waiting time reminding Jackson of just how unpractical it would be to be a teen father and lose everything he had going for him.

Instead, Mr Whittemore had been subdued when they'd gotten the results. Later, he'd taken Jackson to his study and apologized to him. Not for insisting on the test and wanting the baby to belong to someone else, but for what Jackson was sure to be feeling at having a potential child being denied  to  him. He hadn't elaborated, Jackson had been too despondent to ask more about it. Neither have talked about it since, but both his parents have supported the way Jackson had decided to handle the situation, which means supporting Lydia (who had also been pretty distraught at the baby's paternity). 

So here Jackson is, at the hospital nursery, looking down at a baby who should've been his, and not really knowing for sure how to move on from here.

***

"Jackson?"

Jackson turns away from the nursery window to find McCall's mother watching him.

"What?" He asks.

"What are you... doing here?" Mrs McCall asks.

"Lydia had the baby," Jackson says, pointing. Mrs McCall's face immediately lights up and she rushes over.

"Just now?" She asks, peering through the window.

"Pretty much," Jackson says.

"Oh, how exciting," Mrs McCall says. "Does Stiles know?" Jackson shrugs.

"I can go call him," he says. "I'm pretty sure I've got his number on my phone. Or Lydia's. Or something."

"Would you?" Mrs McCall asks. "Tell him I'll wait here for him. I'm sure you need to get back to Lydia. How's she doing?" Jackson shrugs again and pulls both his and Lydia's phones from his pockets.

He walks away from the nursery, but can't quite make himself leave the area completely . Not yet.

He finds Stilinski's number in Lydia's contacts (tries not to think about why it's even still there in the first place), so that's where he calls from.

***

***


End file.
